TheStreet Ratings Group would like to highlight 3 stocks pushing the sector higher today:

Revett Mining ( RVM) is one of the companies that pushed the Basic Materials sector higher today. Revett Mining was up $0.01 (2.1%) to $0.44 on heavy volume. Throughout the day, 416,749 shares of Revett Mining exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 50,600 shares. The stock ranged in a price between $0.33-$0.46 after having opened the day at $0.36 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $0.43.

Revett Mining has a market cap of $27.5 million and is part of the energy industry. Shares are down 41.6% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

At the close, Atlatsa Resources ( ATL) was up $0.02 (10.0%) to $0.22 on average volume. Throughout the day, 122,858 shares of Atlatsa Resources exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 89,500 shares. The stock ranged in a price between $0.19-$0.23 after having opened the day at $0.21 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $0.20.

Atlatsa Resources Corporation mines, explores for, and develops platinum group metals properties in South Africa. The company primarily explores for platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold, copper, and nickel. Atlatsa Resources has a market cap of $105.3 million and is part of the energy industry. Shares are up 9.3% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. Currently there are no analysts who rate Atlatsa Resources a buy, 1 analyst rates it a sell, and none rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Atlatsa Resources as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its notable return on equity, robust revenue growth and compelling growth in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including poor profit margins and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

Highlights from TheStreet Ratings analysis on ATL go as follows:

Compared to other companies in the Metals & Mining industry and the overall market, ATLATSA RESOURCES CORP's return on equity significantly exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 4.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 29.9%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.

ATLATSA RESOURCES CORP reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past year. During the past fiscal year, ATLATSA RESOURCES CORP turned its bottom line around by earning $0.47 versus -$0.04 in the prior year.

ATL's stock share price has done very poorly compared to where it was a year ago: Despite any rallies, the net result is that it is down by 63.64%, which is also worse that the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Investors have so far failed to pay much attention to the earnings improvements the company has managed to achieve over the last quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.

The gross profit margin for ATLATSA RESOURCES CORP is rather low; currently it is at 19.10%. Despite the low profit margin, it has increased significantly from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, ATL's net profit margin of -0.73% significantly underperformed when compared to the industry average.

Ossen Innovation ( OSN) was another company that pushed the Basic Materials sector higher today. Ossen Innovation was up $0.02 (3.2%) to $0.65 on light volume. Throughout the day, 12,701 shares of Ossen Innovation exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 27,600 shares. The stock ranged in a price between $0.63-$0.73 after having opened the day at $0.63 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $0.63.

Ossen Innovation Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells various plain surface prestressed steel materials, and rare earth coated and zinc coated prestressed steel materials in the People's Republic of China. Ossen Innovation has a market cap of $13.1 million and is part of the energy industry. Shares are down 23.2% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. Currently there are no analysts who rate Ossen Innovation a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and none rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Ossen Innovation as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its attractive valuation levels and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, poor profit margins and weak operating cash flow.

Highlights from TheStreet Ratings analysis on OSN go as follows:

OSN's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75 is somewhat low overall, but it is high when compared to the industry average, implying that the management of the debt levels should be evaluated further. Despite the fact that OSN's debt-to-equity ratio is mixed in its results, the company's quick ratio of 1.53 is high and demonstrates strong liquidity.

OSSEN INNOVATION CO LTD -ADR has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has not demonstrated a clear trend in earnings over the past 2 years, making it difficult to accurately predict earnings for the coming year. During the past fiscal year, OSSEN INNOVATION CO LTD -ADR increased its bottom line by earning $0.18 versus $0.12 in the prior year.

Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to -$2.31 million or 141.05% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Metals & Mining industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 72.1% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $1.68 million to $0.47 million.